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BeninCajù: Strengthening a Sustainable Cashew Sector in Benin

Responding to high demand in the global cashew market and the superior quality of their raw product, Benin’s cashew cultivation has expanded more than tenfold in the past two decades. However, processing capacity and other value chain inefficiencies have kept the sector from reaching its potential, and Benin still exports 92 percent of its cashew as unprocessed raw nut. Started in September 2015, with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), TechnoServe’s BeninCajù is a sector-wide value chain approach aimed at strengthening and expanding the cashew sector into a more productive, competitive, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth engine for the people of Benin. Over five years, BeninCajù will work to increase yields and revenues for 42,000 smallholder cashew farmers, triple domestic processing capacity, create at least 3,400 jobs (70 percent for women), catalyze development of the nascent by-product market, and set the sector on a path for continued growth and success.